Telomere Length in a South African Population Co-Infected with HIV and Helminths.

Biological ageing refers to the gradual decrease in physiological functions, resulting in immune senescence, cellular damage and apoptosis. Telomere length is a biomarker of biological ageing. Limited studies have associated shorter telomere length with HIV and parasite single infections, with no studies reporting the association of HIV and parasite co-infection with telomere length. The study aimed to investigate whether telomere length shortening is accelerated in a South African population co-infected with HIV and helminths compared to participants singly infected with either HIV or helminths. Additionally, telomere length data were compared with participants' biochemical and full blood count parameters. A total of 200 participants were in groups of uninfected control, HIV single infection, helminth single infection and HIV and helminth co-infection groups. Relative telomere length (RTL) was determined using Real-Time PCR and associated with biochemical and full blood count parameters using multivariate regression analysis models that were adjusted for confounders. The uninfected control group was used as a reference group. The uninfected control group had the highest mean RTL (1.21 ± 0.53) while the HIV-infected (0.96 ± 0.42) and co-infected (0.93 ± 0.41) groups had similar RTLs, and lastly, the helminth-infected group (0.83 ± 0.33) had the lowest RTL (p = 0.0002). When compared to the uninfected control group, a significant association between RTL and biochemical parameters, including blood iron (ß = -0.48), ferritin (ß = -0.48), transferrin saturation (ß = -0.57), transferrin (ß = -0.57), phosphate (ß = -0.47), vitamin A (ß = -0.49) and C-reactive protein (ß = -0.52) were noted in the co-infected group (p < 0.05). In addition, a significant association between RTL and full blood count, including (ß = -0.47), haematocrit (ß = -0.46), mean corpuscular volume (ß = -0.47), lymphocytes (ß = -0.45), mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (ß = -0.45), red cell distribution width (ß = -0.47), monocytes (ß = -0.45), eosinophils (ß = -0.45), basophils (ß = -0.44) and transferrin saturation (ß = -0.57) were also noted in the co-infected group (p < 0.05). Accelerated biological ageing, as indicated by telomere length shortening, is associated with HIV and helminth co-infections.

The Impact of HIV and Parasite Single Infection and Coinfection on Telomere Length: A Systematic Review.

HIV and parasite infections accelerate biological aging, resulting in immune senescence, apoptosis and cellular damage. Telomere length is considered to be one of the most effective biomarkers of biological aging. HIV and parasite infection have been reported to shorten telomere length in the host. This systematic review aimed to highlight work that explored the influence of HIV and parasite single infections and coinfection on telomere length. Using specific keywords related to the topic of interest, an electronic search of several online databases (Google Scholar, Web of Science, Scopus, Science Direct and PubMed) was conducted to extract eligible articles. The association between HIV infection or parasite infection and telomere length and the association between HIV and parasite coinfection and telomere length were assessed independently. The studies reported were mostly conducted in the European countries. Of the 42 eligible research articles reviewed, HIV and parasite single infections were independently associated with telomere length shortening. Some studies found no association between antiretroviral therapy (ART) and telomere length shortening, while others found an association between ART and telomere length shortening. No studies reported on the association between HIV and parasite coinfection and telomere length. HIV and parasite infections independently accelerate telomere length shortening and biological aging. It is possible that coinfection with HIV and parasites may further accelerate telomere length shortening; however, this is a neglected field of research with no reported studies to date.

Sociodemographic predictors of endometrial cancer mortality in South Africa (1997 to 2015): a case-control study.

South Africa is currently undergoing epidemiological and health transition that may impact on the risk factors of endometrial cancer mortality. We evaluated the sociodemographic characteristics of women that died from endometrial cancer in South Africa from 1997 to 2015.An unmatched case control study was conducted to compare the sociodemographic characteristic of women that died from endometrial cancer cases (n = 3,955) with the characteristics of women that died from other cancers (controls, n = 66,202) using the population-based mortality data from Statistics South Africa. Unconditional binary logistic regression modelling was conducted.The Mean age of women that died from endometrial cancer was 66.7 ± 11.9 years. The odds of death from endometrial cancer among women aged ≥50 years was about 4-fold as compared to women younger than 50 years (AOR = 3.98 95% CI: 3.14 - 5.03; p value: <.001). Conversely, high school leavers (AOR = 0.79 95% CI: 0.66 - 0.94; p value: .009), smokers (AOR= 0.53 95% CI: 0.43 - 0.65; p value: <.001), and divorced women (AOR= 0.73 95% CI: 0.59 - 0.89; p value: .002) had lesser odds of endometrial cancer mortality.This study provides information to guide Public Health control program on endometrial cancer in South Africa.Impact statementWhat is already known on this subject? The prevalence of endometrial cancer is increasing in low and middle income countries. After the abolition of Apartheid in South Africa, the country commenced a multi-racial government that provided socio-economic empowerment to the majority of the country. Thus, South Africa is currently undergoing epidemiological and health transition that may impact on the risks of endometrial cancer in the country.What do the result of the study add? This study is the first in South Africa to evaluate the sociodemographic characteristics of women that died from endometrial cancer using a large population-based data. Age, educational status, smoking status are some identified risk factors of mortality from endometrial cancer in South AfricaWhat are the implications of these findings for clinical practice and/or further research? The highlighted risk factors that are associated with endometrial mortality will help in guiding health policies that will help reduce the prevalence of endometrial cancer. The study recommends a targeted national prevention program for endometrial cancer as the burden appears to be worsening with each passing year.

Morphological and molecular identification of filamentous Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus isolated from compound feeds in South Africa.

Isolation of filamentous species of two Aspergillum genera from compound feeds produced in South Africa, and subsequent extraction of their individual DNA in this study, presents a simple but rapid molecular procedure for high through-put analysis of the individual morphological forms. DNA was successfully isolated from the Aspergillus spp. from agar cultures by use of a commercial kit. Agarose gel electrophoresis fractionation of the fungi DNA, showed distinct bands. The DNA extracted by this procedure appears to be relatively pure with a ratio absorbance at 260 and 280 nm. However, the overall morphological and molecular data indicated that 67.5 and 51.1% of feed samples were found to be contaminated with Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus, respectively, with poultry feed having the highest contamination mean level of 5.7 × 105 CFU/g when compared to cattle (mean: 4.0 × 106 CFU/g), pig (mean: 2.7 × 104 CFU/g) and horse (1.0 × 102 CFU) feed. This technique presents a readily achievable, easy to use method in the extraction of filamentous fungal DNA and it's identification. Hence serves as an important tool towards molecular study of these organisms for routine analysis check in monitoring and improving compound feed quality against fungal contamination.

The Association between the Histological Subtypes of Mesothelioma and Asbestos Exposure Characteristics.

Asbestos mining operations have left South Africa with a legacy of asbestos contamination and asbestos-related diseases continue to be a problem. The large-scale mining of three types of asbestos presents a unique opportunity to study malignant mesothelioma of the pleura (mesothelioma) in South Africa. This study aimed to describe the demographics of deceased individuals diagnosed with mesothelioma and explore any associations between the histological morphology of mesothelioma and asbestos characteristics. We reviewed the records of all deceased miners and ex-miners from the Pathology Automation System (PATHAUT) database of the National Institute of Occupational Health (NIOH) that were histologically diagnosed with mesothelioma in the period from January 2006-December 2016 (11 years). The study population does not include all cases of mesothelioma in South Africa but rather those that reached the compensation system. Crocidolite asbestos fibres were identified in the majority of mesothelioma cases (n = 140; 53.4%). The epithelioid subtype was most commonly present in both occupational and environmental cases. Cases with the sarcomatous subtype were older at death and fewer female cases were diagnosed with this subtype. No relationship between mesothelioma subtype and asbestos type or asbestos burden or fibre size was established.

Investigating the Toxicity of Compounds Yielded by Staphylococci on Vero Cells.

Bacterial secondary metabolites play a major role in the alleviation of diseases; however, the cytotoxicity of other metabolites cannot be ignored as such metabolites could be detrimental to human cells. Three Staphylococci strains Staphylococcus aureus, staphylococcus epidermidis and staphylococcus saprophyticus were used in the experiments. These strains are well known to cause hospital and community-acquired infections. Secondary metabolites from S. aureus isolated from milk of cows with clinical features of mastitis (swollen udders and the production of watery clotted milk), S. saprophyticus (ATCC 35552), and S. epidermidis (ATCC 51625) were exposed to a minimal medium then screened using Gas Chromatography High-Resolution Time-of-flight Mass Spectrometry (GC-HRTOF-MS) and identified with Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR). From S. epidermidis, two compounds were isolated: oleamide and methyl palmitate; three from S. aureus, including fluoranthene, 3-methyl-2-phenyl-1H-pyrrole, and cyclo(L-Leu-L-Propyl); while S. saprophyticus yielded succinic acid, 1,2,6-hexantriol, veratramine, and 4-methyl-pentyl-amine. The secondary metabolites were tested for cytotoxicity using the Vero cell line. Fluoranthene exhibited toxicity with an LC50 of 0.0167 mg/mL to Vero cells, while the other metabolites did not. Methyl palmitate was the least toxic of all of the metabolites. The results imply that none of the compounds, except fluoranthene, pose any danger to human cells.